This gentleman may not be paying attention to what happened to Ohio governor Kasich and what is going to happen to another in Wisconsin...These guys are personnae no grata in their States for union busting ideas.

Where to start? How about with the idea that teachers should not get pensions because private industry is doing away with them. By his reasoning, if corporations say it is OK to push people off a bridge, then everybody ought to be jumping. The truth of the matter is we need reforms to allow more people to get a pension, not less. We don't need to put more money in CEO's gold-lined pockets.

But more to the point, do anti-taxation nimrods like this really want teachers to have salaries comparable to the private sector? Because every credible study shows they are paid far less than private sector people with similar educational and experience levels. Just think what that might do to taxes.

Of course not tot worry, because folks like this think ultimately, everyone ought to pay tuition for their own kids and that those who cannot afford it should send the kids into sweatshops, or at the very least, into janitorial service.

Of course what else would you expect from an "independent futures trader", a Wall Street guy who makes his living producing nothing, who no doubt also benefits financially from the anti-teachers union organization he founded.

The dept of labor has released a study stating that the average teacher compensation is double the compensation of like jobs in the private sector. The bloated pensions are just hitting us now. Something needs to be done now.

Recent Study from the National Institue on Retirent Security Entitled "Out of Balance" Arrived at the Following Concusions:

Wages and salaries of state and local employees are lower than those for private sector employees with comparable earnings determinants such as education and work experience. State workers typically earn 11% less and local workers 12% less.

During the last 15 years, the pay gap has grown - earnings for state and local workers have generally declined relative to comparable private sector employees.

The pattern of declining relative earnings remains true in most of the large states examined in the study, although there does exist some state level variation.
http://www.nirsonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=395&Itemid=48

Benefits make up a slightly larger share of compensation for the state and local sector. But even after accounting for the value of retirement, healthcare, and other benefits, state and local employees earn less than private sector counterparts. On average, total compensation is 6.8% lower for state employees and 7.4% lower for local employees than for comparable private sector employees.

"Public primary, secondary, and special ed teachers are paid an average of $39.69 in wages and $16.90 in benefits, BLS reported. That combined $56.59 is double the $28.24 in avg hourly wages and benefits paid to workers in private industry."

These articles always bring out the teachers and retired teachers, lamenting how underpaid they are. Kids going to become teachers today are in the lower 50% of their class, go to easy and cheap colleges, and get bullsh*t advanced degrees that are not even remotely as difficult to get as advanced degrees in other fields. Then they work a 7,5 hour day, with 30 minutes for lunch, have complete job security after about 5 years of working, and can retire with a pension equal to 85% of their pay at 56 years old. It's one heck of a gig... teachers in the area can earn $80,000 plus per year after 15 years, throw in a sport coaching job, a dept chair, a mentoring gig and they make $88,000 a year.... for 9.5 months works. Over paid, and over pensioned. But the end is coming... all the deals the state has made go away when the districts start to go bankrupt, and the state as well.

U.S. census data shows that annual pay for teachers has fallen drastically over the past 60 years when compared to the annual pay of other workers with college degrees. According to a recent study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average national starting salary for a teacher is around $30,377. But the study showed that other college graduates entering professions that require similar training and responsibilities start at much higher salaries. For example, public accountants start at $44,668; computer programmers start at an average of $43,635; and registered nurses start at about $45,570. The average earnings of workers with at least four years of college are now more than 50% higher than the
average earnings of a teacher.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/analyzing-the-myths-about-teacher-salaries.html

Truth Seeker,

You are a resident of the East Penn School District. The cost of a new teacher, according to Board President Ballard is $80,000 (yes that's salary and benefits combined cost).

The average per capita income in East Penn is roughly $33,000.

Teachers in East Penn are NOT underpaid.

Mr. Stoltz, maybe you'd be more qualified for the office you hold and issues you rant about if you didn't drop out of college. What's the problem, are you jealous of the students who worked hard to earn their degrees and are trying to educate our youth?

It is far easier to get a teaching degree than an accounting degree, a nursing degree or any ot the other fields mentioned. AND THOSE OTHER FIELDS work 12 months a year, not 9.5 months. Factor the pay based on amount of time worked per year. Also, teachers in this area start for $45,000. You think kids fresh out of college with an accounting degree start for more than $45,000 in this area? WHERE? Computer programming? You can't even get a programming job in this area any more. Not to mention a computer science degree is a bit more difficult and competitive than a B.A. in education. Why do you think a Math teacher never gets their M.S. in math? Why do you think a chemistry teacher never gets gets an M.S. in chemistry? Why do you think a history teacher never gets an M.S. in history? WHY? Becuase they all go get these creampuff M.S. degrees in "Educational Leadership" or "Technology in the Classroom". Fluff courses and degrees put out by schools who TAILOR the courses to be SOOOO easy that every teacher will want to go there. That's how all the area schools are PADDING their coffers... by offering gut courses to local teachers. They COMPETE to be the easiest. Don't ever compare a teaching M.S. to a nursing M.S. or an accounting M.S. or an engineering M.S. Those are REAL degrees.

http://www.manhattaninstitute.org/html/cr_61.htm underfunded by Billions with a "B"

scarry stuff, not only for teachers but for state employees also. just keep printing money !!!!!! that will fix it.

Bring on the charter schools!

Charter schools are useless and take necessary resources from public education.
Not to mention the schools are selective in their enrollment process, unlike public education is required to take "ALL" students regardless of their intellectual ability.

Iamknowledge appears to lack a lot of knowledge of the job market. People are still being hired in entry-level positions for more than $50,000 in a lot of areas. See http://www1.salary.com/Upper-Middle-Income-Entry-Level-Salaries.html . Just because the subjects are things like educational strategies and class management doesn't make them any less demanding than any other 4 year degree. There are a lot of programs out there that try to bring in 'outside' degree holders into educational settings, with those people thinking that the job must be easy and with fewer hours. When they find out that the job is tough, and the hours outside classroom time are sizeable, they quit. The answer to all this whining is, if you think the job of a teacher is so cushy, you ought to go out and get one of those cushy jobs. What people are looking for is any excuse to get out of paying their fair share of school taxes. If they can blame the demonic teachers for taking their money, they can justify their position. This is not a 'knowledge' issue, because truth does not support that.

Chuck, My sibling just completed a 25 year career as a public school teacher after entry through an alternative route about ten years after BS, and with a MS and not a hint of School of Education training. During that tenure, (s)he was able to leave town for the summer home in another time zone along with co-owner (regular route)teacher partner two days after school ended and to return home two days before Labour Day, whilst complaining about the stress they were under. It can be done. Both the career and the bennies.
.

Bobo, Thanks for your insights. I can diagram a sentence as good as the next one, but have problems typing in these little boxes. BTW, my life, to date, has been quite productive, with many great things being built and many lives being touched, and vice versa.

Whether teachers are over or underpaid and pensioned (although in the BASD pensions are slowly being phased out in lieu of 401k's) is a matter for debate, as witnessed by all these comments. But one thing I believe it is fair to generalize; school teachers are very under appreciated. Once again, read many of these self-righteous comments. If a few of you knew what many teachers in the middle and high school levels put up with on a daily basis, you might rethink your positions: disruptive students with no respect; an administration that won't support you when you do confront a disruptive student; a school board that literally gambled away millions of OUR money in bad swaps deals forcing the district to make big cuts. This resulted in some teachers being uprooted from programs they'd spent years building up, just to "cut costs". This is just some of what a teacher deals with every day. I'd say they are more under appreciated than over paid!

Simon Campbell has ruined the Pennsbury School District in only a few years. This man wants the most experienced educators out of the district to be replaced with 23 year old's that do not have any experience in the classroom. It takes five years to master one's teaching style. Campbell is a cancerous leech to ANY school district. This man is egocentric and his values do not reflect the values of the parents of the children that he tries to control.